The second set of leg 1 of the quarterfinals will be played today. The second leg of these match-ups will be played next Tuesday. During yesterday's quarterfinal games Bayern Munich defeated Juventus 2-0 and Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona played to a 2-2 draw.
Today's Games:
Galatasaray (Turkey) @ Real Madrid (Spain)
Real Madrid are currently on their quest for "La Decima," which would be their tenth European Cup title. Madrid struggled all season during La Liga and will likely have no shot at catching Barcelona the rest of the way so winning the Champions League is the only trophy they really have a shot at the rest of this season.
Real Madrid have been carried by the play of Cristiano Ronaldo all season due to some goal struggles by both Karim Benzema and Gonzala Higuain. It is likely that during the summer they will offload one of them if not both and bring in Falcao from Atletico Madrid or Neymar from Santos. Ronaldo will likely score at least one of Madrid's goals today as he will be trying to match Messi who was able to score one of Barcelona's goals yesterday.
Jose Mourinho will be coaching against two of his former players today in Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder. Both were brought into Galatasaray over the winter transfer window and will be the key for the Turkish side if they will be able to advance past the Spanish giants. Mourinho coached Drogba while at Chelsea and Sneijder during his time at Inter Milan.
Drogba will likely do the scoring for Gala during today's game, but I don't see their squad getting any more than one goal against Madrid's defense. Madrid has way too much talent in their back four and Diego Lopez has been playing very well in the absence of captain Iker Casillas. I think Madrid will be able to get multiple goals from their squad, it's just a matter of how many they will finish with.
Prediction: Real Madrid win 3-1
Borussia Dortmund (Germany) @ Malaga (Spain)
In my opinion this is the weakest match-up of any of the four quarterfinals this year. Out of the eight teams left in the tournament I think Dortmund are the sixth best team left and Malaga is the worst team that is left in the Champions League. Neither team are the best team left from their country as Dortmund are being outplayed by Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga and Malaga is currently behind both Barcelona and Real Madrid in La Liga.
Robert Lewandowski of Dortmund and Isco of Malaga have been each team's best offensive weapons thus far in the Champions League and those will be the two players to watch today. I don't think a lot of goals will be scored in this game as both teams will kind of even each other out. I expect Dortmund to advance between these two teams as they are the better team but with Malaga playing at home I think they will be able to play this game to a draw.
Prediction: Draw 1-1
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